In a State where the votes of ex- servicemen are very crucial for political parties, the Congress in Uttarakhand appears to have made some headway by roping in chairman of the United Forum of Ex-servicemen (UFESM) Major General Satbir Singh (retd) in its favour. Flanked by Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay, Singh announced support for the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections at state party office on the weekend.
General Satbir (retd) is one of the most prominent faces of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) movement of the ex-servicemen of the country. It would be interesting to gauge the extent of Satbir’s appeal on the ex-servicemen of state who traditionally are known to be sympathetic towards Bharatiya Janata Party. In the election manifestos both BJP and Congress have offered many sops for the fraternity of ex servicemen. The Chief Minister Harish Rawat has even declared to set up a separate ministry for defence personnel.
Meanwhile the Uttarakhand Ex-Services league (UESl) has categorically stated that it has nothing to do with the statement made by Maj Gen Satbir (retd). The state president of the USEl, Brigadier R S Rawat (retd) said that the organisation is totally apolitical in character. He said that the veterans of the state are very much politically aware and perfectly know which party has done what for them. Colonel P l Parashar (retd) said that the statement of support to Congress would cut very little ice with the ex-servicemen in the state. “The decision to vote or support any party is an individual decision and the veterans of the state know it perfectly well,’’ he said.
Uttarakhand has a rich tradition of sending its youth to serve in the armed forces of the country. A rough estimate put the number of armed forces veterans and Veer Naris (widows of armed forces personnel) at 1.65 lakh and the state is home to about thirty thousand retired paramilitary forces personnel. Similarly an estimated 1.50 lakh personnel belonging to the state are serving in different wings of armed forces of the country.
It is estimated that the almost twenty percent of the total electorate is from the armed forces background. Though the veterans and Veer Naris are spread in all parts of the state their concentration is more in the districts of Dehradun, Pauri and Pithoragarh. These districts send 20 MlAs to the state assembly.